


who we are in the dark

by inkbug



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Action/Adventure, Claustrophobia, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Tech Malfunctions, dubiously cannon compliant, honestly i'm using this fandom to write all my fav bad scifi episode tropes WHOOPS, no ships atm because I multiship everything and couldn't decide, so gen it is, trapped together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2016-08-26
Packaged: 2018-08-11 06:17:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7879747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkbug/pseuds/inkbug
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It should have been an easy mission.<br/>Too bad Lance had to go and jinx it. </p>
<p>- </p>
<p>Or; the team gets separated on another alien planet. And somehow, everything is left up to Pidge to fix.</p>
            </blockquote>





	who we are in the dark

 

It felt like her Lion was being torn apart around her. As Pilot and Lion struggled against the free-fall, she could hear Shiro’s voice over the comm, frantic in her ear.

“Allura! Keep the castle out of range." He shouted. "There’s something on the planet screwing with our lion’s system. We’re gonna force a landing. Keep Hunk and Keith back, we’ll find a way to get in touch.” 

The Green Lion shuddered and groaned around her as they reached atmosphere. Pidge was already wincing.  She braced herself for impact as control lights flashed warnings, and alarms deafened her ears.

“I know, I know.” She murmured to the Lion, “you don't want to be on this planet any more than I do.” 

Supposedly the Lions were sentient technology. Pidge wasn't sure how that worked, yet. But she hoped it would listen to her soothing. “ _Please_ don't fall apart on me now.” She begged, louder this time as she yanked the steering upward. A vain hope to ease their downward spiral. It worked, almost. The motion evening them out just enough so they didn’t hit the ground in a nosedive. The world spun in front of her and Pidge squeezed her eyes shut. Everything exploded as the lion hit the surface with a tumultuous, thundering boom.

It felt like every bone in her body shattered and she lurched forward. Her head slammed against a control panel. She had just enough time to curse Lance for jinxing all of them before everything faded to black. 

 

-

 

Pidge remembered Lance coming into the control room grouchier than usual. Everyone had been running on fumes. But still, the universe never seemed to give them a break.

According to Allura, a medical supply ship had vanished. They had been delivering supplies to a nearby planet when they'd gone dark. And now they were four days past their arrival date. The castles scanners had picked up no distress beacons. According to Coran, there were strange fluctuations that might have meant something was messing with their scanners.

“Find the ship, save the crew, grab the gear. Piece of cake.” Lance had bragged. All bravado and full of his usual swagger.

Hunk shot Lance a look of pure panic. “Don’t say that man! You’re gonna _jinx us._ ” 

“Seriously? After the battles we’ve been dealing with lately a easy rescue mission is just what we need.”

It really should have been simple. An easy rescue mission after the series of tense battles they’d all had. They’d kept the castle back, as a safety precaution. Held Keith and Hunk back as backup just on the off chance that things went south.  An easy mission. But easy missions didn’t start with crash landing. 

 

-

 

When she came to, all she could think about was how everything hurt. Forcing her eyes open Pidge tried to get herself up off the console. She inhaled sharply, and her whole body screamed in agony against the motion. Sharp pain flared white-hot against her ribs.  Pidge slumped back against the pilot’s seat, breathless from the effort. Her ribs weren’t broken, she knew what broken bones felt like. But they were bruised at least, fractured at worst. She took a softer, shuddery breath, the simple effort turning her face ashy and pale.

Pidge fought her rising panic down along with the pain, and tried to clear her thoughts.

That was when she noticed how quiet the Lion was. And how dark. No alarms blared for her attention. There were no warnings flashing at her. She was alone in the of the cockpit.  

‘Alright’ she said, more to herself than anyone else. ‘You can do this Katie. You gotta get up and contact the others.’

She flicked the switch on her comm.

“Allura- this is Pidge. I’m pretty sure this damn planet tried to kill our Lions. Do you read me?”

Silence. She tried again.

“Shiro, this is Pidge. Do you copy?" 

A tendril of dread curled around her gut.

Nothing.

“Lance”

Silence. God what she wouldn’t have given to hear one of Lance’s terrible jokes right about now.

The tendril of fear tightened. Anything that could bring down the Lions was bad enough. But their comm links too?

At first, she’d thought the crash was because of atmospheric disturbances. With the Lion’s dark though, that had to have been some sort of emp. That might have been able to bring their tech down. But strong enough to wipe out the Lions too? If that was the case... they wanted to keep their backup as far away as possible. 

_‘I’m so glad we kept the castle out of range.’_ Pidge didn't want to think about what would happen if the castle crashed.

She also didn’t want to think about how she might be alone. Not when there was the chance, however slight, that one of the others had crashed nearby. Shiro or Lance could be hurt, or stuck in their Lion without any way to get help.

Pidge didn’t want to bother taking off her suit to check the injuries. Shiro and Lance might not have that kind of time, and they’d still be there later. She’d deal with them then. But Lance and Shiro might need her help now.

Additionally, she didn’t want Keith and Hunk to have the same crash landing they did. What she wanted to do find that stupid emp device and shut it down before it caused anymore damage. And if they found it, maybe, just maybe, they could turn it into something useful to use against the Galra.

The smaller girl took a slow, cautious breath. To steel her nerves. She could handle this. She’d have to handle this. If she was going to help Lance and Shiro at all, she was going to have to get up first.  If unbuckling the seat belt was a painful, careful process then getting out of the Pilot’s seat was even worse.  And it took Pidge longer than she’d have liked to get her shaky feet back on the ground. Still, by some miracle she managed to get up without passing out. Moving was easier, she found when she wasn't crunched up in the pilot's seat. So with careful strides she made her way to the emergency hatch and, twisting the latch open, she found herself facing the unknown planet below.

**Author's Note:**

> honestly, I love this series and I love bad scifi tropes and WHY WOULDN'T I take the chance to combine them? 
> 
> everything is pretty much outlined, so hopefully updates will happen on a fairly regular basis. it's also been AGES AND AGES since I've written anything, so if there's any glaring mistakes please let me know? I tried to catch everything but nearly had a meltdown when I realized I've forgotten how tenses work. So, uh, there may be some wonky bits until I get back in the swing of things.


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